UK scientists have shown that a new chemical agent could one day provide a new treatment for mixed-lineage leukaemia (MLL), the most common form of leukaemia in babies.

Cancer Research UK scientists focused their attentions on I-BET151 - a drug candidate developed by GSK that mimics chemical 'tags' on the chromatin scaffold on which DNA is organised.

In doing so, the drug prevents proteins called BET and MLL from attaching to chromatin and activating genes that drive the development of leukaemia.

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Research on mice and samples of human cancer cells revealed that the chemical could halt the progression of the disease.

Co-lead researcher Dr Brian Huntly, who is based at the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research at the University of Cambridge, said: 'MLL leukaemia is very hard to treat and often the only option for patients who have become resistant to standard treatments is a bone marrow transplant.

'We hope these findings may in future mean that fewer children need this procedure.'

Commenting on the findings, which are published in Nature journal, Cancer Research UK's Dr Lesley Walker said that although the research is only in the lab at the moment, 'we hope it will move quickly towards clinical trials in patients'.

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